SCOTTISH OPEN
10/11 March 2001
Am I wasting my time? Is the Scottish Open sponsor, John Slattery, wasting his money? Are the Scots really interested in playing competitive backgammon? It seems the answers are 'yes', 'yes' and 'no' in that order.
I travelled a round trip of 600 miles to stage a tournament for eleven Scottish players. Out of a potential Scottish entry of 38 players two were at a wedding (much to their regret), 25 never even looked in or made contact and, of the 11 that did enter, one was the sponsor!
At the time of writing this report I haven't contacted the 25 that weren't interested in playing in their own national tournament, but I do intend to. John Slattery was disappointed by the turnout of Scottish players, especially when you consider that the majority of English entrants had travelled between 250 and 400 and miles to be there; and a couple had travelled from the south coast: Brighton and Southampton, by road! I doubt very much if there will be another Scottish Open as I cannot rely upon members travelling such a great distance to top up the numbers.
Main (38)
Despite the low turnout the winner still had to beat six opponents, and on his way to the final, three out of five of them were champions in their own right and in the final his opponent was also a former champion! The eventual winner was Wayne Auty; his champion victims into the final were: John Slattery, Peter Bennet and Paul Lamford. Now, anyone that can cleave a way through such top class players must be a favourite in the final - but the other finalist, Jeff Ellis was determined to beat him.
In the semi Jeff had a hard time beating Jeff Barber after leading 10-3. Jeff Barber took the game to 10-10 and was well ahead in the race but still in contact occupying Jeff Ellis's 9-point with Jeff Ellis anchored on his own 12-point; but when Jeff Barber rolled three consecutive small numbers failing to move from the 9-point and getting past Jeff Ellis's 12-point anchor, Jeff Ellis took the lead and eventually triumphed in a close-finish bearoff.
In the final Wayne pulled ahead to an early lead, Jeff levelled it off to five all. Then Jeff pulled away to a 9-5 lead. With just two points needed for victory Jeff was offered the cube in this position:
 Ellis (black) 9 Auty (white) 5
White on roll. Cube action?
With JellyFish evaluating it a No Double/Take and giving Jeff at least a 32% chance of victory, Jeff scooped it up. As it turned out it was a good double for Wayne who won in the bearoff taking the score to 9-7 to Jeff. In the next game Jeff was 19 pips ahead in a 'no contact' race when he shipped the cube over looking for a drop and going to Crawford; Wayne took, which surprised Jeff and the spectators. Jeff rolled a double four and increased his lead to 35 pips and it looked as if it was all over for Wayne . . . but, it wasn't! Wayne re-cubed to four and a few rolls later this was the situation:
 White rolls 66
Jeff rolled, took off two men leaving Wayne just seven rolls in which to lose the final; and Wayne rolled double two. So, Wayne the Giant Killer took the Scottish title and added another champion player to his list of victims!
 | | 
|
| Wayne Auty receives his winner's trophy from sponsor, John Slattery | |
A smiling but disappointed Jeff Ellis, Main Runner-up, takes his trophy |
Progressive Consolation (34)
With such a small field this was an easy one for me to run. Evan Willaims, entering from the Main first round losers met Rosemary Bensley, Main third round loser, in the final. With her taxi waiting outside to take her to the airport Rosemary just failed to take the winners prize letting Evan have his first ever Biba trophy. Mind you, Rosemary did get a snog from John Slattery as a consolation!
 | | 
|
| Evan Williams, Consolation Winner | |
Rosemary Bensley, Consolation Runner-up
gets a big snog from John |
Last Chance (22)
Tournament sponsor, John Slattery made his way into the final of this 5-pointer having fallen to Wayne Auty in the Main and Rosemary Bensley in the Consolation. Here he met David Naylor whom he relegated to Runner-up taking home one of his own trophies.
Haggis (32) open draw
Because he had a long wait until his final match in the Last Chance, David Naylor was allowed to enter the open draw of the 3-pointer Haggis. This turned out to be a good move for him as he faced Scostman, John Frame in the final. However, spurred on by the (mistaken) belief that the first prize was in fact an actual haggis, John pushed David back into second place - again!
 A rose between two thorns.
(l-r) David Naylor (2nd) and John Frame (1st) receive their Haggis trophies
Friday Night Knockout (24)
One thing about having to travel hundreds of miles to play is the fact that the majority of players are there on the Friday evening. Such was the case with out two finalists; Dave Motley and Jeff Ellis. Motivated by the fact that he'd brought his wife with him, Dave wanted the free weekend prize and subsequently Jeff had to settle for second place and a bit of cash. At the time Jeff didn't know it but over the weekend he was to lose only two matches - unfortunately they were both finals!
Doubles (9)
Named after one of the funniest films I've ever seen, doubles team 'Wignail & I' was an inspired choice of names given the members involved. It was good enough to take them into the final against 'Double Scotch' but not quite good enough to beat them. The non-Scottish, 'Double Scotch' emerged victorious.
Click here for the Scottish Open quick results.
John Slattery helps Last Chance and Haggis double Runner-up, David Naylor, with his trophies and wine
|
 |
Scottish Open Gets Hot!
During the Saturday afternoon the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate the playing rooms and hotel and stand outside for 30 minutes whilst the fire brigade were called.
It was very wet and windy. Everyone was made to stand at the designated assembly point; which we did, our teeth chattering and our knees knocking with the cold. Well, not exactly everyone, as you can see from the photo below, our beloved sponsor John Slattery (and David Naylor) managed to procure a couple of foil blankets to ward off the worst of the elements. David wisely clutched his blanket around himself, but John, being of sturdier stock (no doubt due to many years of kilt wearing) turned his blanket into a stylish cape, tying it with a flambouyant knot around his neck.
It's comforting to know that as we, in our tee-shirts and short sleeved shirts were slowly freezing to death or at the least in danger of catching pnuemonia, John and David would survive to remember us! Luckily it was a false alarm so I lived to tell the tale myself - despite the frost bite!
 Picture courtesy of Peter Chan
Later John was asked about kilt wearing, and in particular if anything was worn under the kilt. "No," he replied, "Everything is in full working order!"
So, will I organise another Scottish Open? Probably not. If local players can't be bothered to travel from Edinburgh or Glasgow to East Kilbride then why should I or others be expected to travel hundreds of miles to organise and play in their tournament? Any feedback from Scottish players, either entrants or absentees, would be helpful in making a final decision.
I suppose we could hold it in Coventry!!!
To see the latest statistics regarding Biba tournaments click here.
SCOTTISH OPEN ARCHIVES
|
